US20060139747A1 - Microscope - Google Patents

Microscope Download PDF

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Publication number
US20060139747A1
US20060139747A1 US10/540,342 US54034203A US2006139747A1 US 20060139747 A1 US20060139747 A1 US 20060139747A1 US 54034203 A US54034203 A US 54034203A US 2006139747 A1 US2006139747 A1 US 2006139747A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
supporting cell
objective
microscope
stage
stand
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US10/540,342
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English (en)
Inventor
Leander Dietzsch
Ullrich Klarner
Hans Tandler
Hubert Wahl
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Assigned to CARL ZEISS JENA GMBH reassignment CARL ZEISS JENA GMBH ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: DIETZSCH, LEANDER, TANDLER, HANS, WAHL, HUBERT, KLARNER, ULLRICH
Publication of US20060139747A1 publication Critical patent/US20060139747A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B21/00—Microscopes
    • G02B21/24—Base structure

Definitions

  • the invention is directed to a microscope, in particular an optical microscope, and the mechanical construction thereof.
  • Microscopes of whatever type of construction, whether upright or inverted, have the function of generating a magnified image of an object that can be observed and recorded.
  • magnification which can have values of up to 5000 ⁇
  • unwanted relative movements between the objective and the object to be magnified which can result, e.g., from building vibrations, are also magnified and lead to blurry images, loss of contrast and reduced resolution, especially at higher magnifications.
  • DE 42 31 470 A1 discloses a modular microscope system which has a combination microscope base body having a stand base, an upper stand part and an intermediate module with attachable binocular tube.
  • the base body is a multiple-part frame construction provided with stop faces for the positioning of supports on which are arranged optical and/or mechanical and/or electrical or electronic assemblies that combine to form functional units. These supports may be fitted with optical components such as mirrors, lenses, diaphragms, or with a turret unit for changing components quickly.
  • an intermediate module having a tube lens can be provided and can be exchanged with other intermediate modules which also have a switchable and preadjustable Bertrand lens in addition to a tube lens, for example.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,881 discloses a microscope with a modular construction. In this case, a plurality of modules can be exchanged or combined with one another.
  • This microscope has a microscope stand on which the objective and the eyepiece are arranged at a distance from one another in lever-shaped holders which inhibit vibrations.
  • the element carrying the eyepiece is arranged at a distance from the element carrying the objective, that is, without mutual contact therebetween, in order to prevent transmission of vibrations from the eyepiece to the objective, which could be generated particularly by the user making contact with the eyepiece. To a great extent, this eliminates the relative movements between the objective and the object which diminish image quality.
  • the supporting cell is rigidly connected to the stand at a plurality of projections serving as a support by suitable fastening means. It is advantageous when the fastening means are detachable so that it is possible to exchange the supporting cell if necessary. To achieve good damping of shocks and/or vibrations between the stand and the cell, it is advantageous when damping and/or vibration-isolating intermediate layers are arranged between the supporting cell and the contact surfaces of the projections of the stand. It may also be advantageous when the supporting cell is arranged at the stand in a springing manner.
  • the first assemblies are designed as an objective changer device and, possibly, as an objective focusing device.
  • an objective changer device constructed as an objective turret is arranged at the supporting cell.
  • the second assemblies advantageously comprise a stage support, a stage guide and a stage.
  • the supporting cell is optimized with respect to rigidity, use of material, dimensioning and thermal behavior while adhering to requirements for high stability and optical transmission quality of the microscope.
  • the stage guide has a guide plate that is fixedly arranged at the supporting cell and guide elements at the stage support which are in an operative connection with the guide plate.
  • the supporting cell advantageously comprises a thermally invariant material or other suitable material or a combination of such materials.
  • Another advantage consists in that material can also be substituted in the supporting cell with minimized dimensions for further dynamic and thermal optimization.
  • material can also be substituted in the supporting cell with minimized dimensions for further dynamic and thermal optimization.
  • ceramic materials, sintered materials or other suitable materials which are thermally invariant to a great extent can also be used.
  • the supporting cell can also be used in expanded stands with vibration damping and without restriction. Therefore, not only must external excitations be separated, but also internal dynamic interference brought about by masses, e.g., existing drives, must be reduced.
  • the supporting cell combines the tolerance-critical basic assemblies of the microscope to form a stable unit.
  • These assemblies include the holder for the objective, the objective turret, the assemblies serving to receive the object, guides for focusing the objective or object, and also the holder for the condenser. All other assemblies that do not belong to a microscope, e.g., for the power supply, transmitted illumination and incident illumination, and for tubes, if any, are held in a separate stand.
  • FIG. 1 is a simplified view of an upright microscope with a supporting cell
  • FIG. 2 is a simplified view of an inverted microscope with a supporting cell
  • FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of a supporting cell at the stand of a microscope.
  • FIG. 1 is a highly simplified view showing the construction of an upright microscope which comprises a base body or stand 1 at which an illumination device 3 comprising a light source 2 is arranged in the bottom area 1 . 1 .
  • An arm 6 supporting an eyepiece receptacle 4 with an eyepiece 5 is arranged at the top end 1 . 2 of the stand 1 .
  • a supporting cell 7 which is optimized with respect to material and rigidity is advantageously rigidly arranged at the middle part 1 . 3 of the stand 1 as a separate assembly, preferably so as to contact projections 8 of the stand 1 .
  • the supporting cell 7 is arranged at the stand 1 rigidly, but also in such a way that it can be exchanged, i.e., detached, at any time in order to make changes on the microscope depending upon the task at hand.
  • Screws, clamps or other suitable devices can be provided as fastening means 9 , illustrated in dash-dot lines in FIG. 1 .
  • These fastening means 9 must ensure a rigid connection between the stand 1 and the supporting cell 7 . However, they must also be detachable so that the supporting cell 7 can be exchanged if necessary. In this respect, it can be advantageous when damping intermediate layers and/or intermediate layers which isolate vibrations are arranged between the supporting cell 7 and the contact surfaces of the projections of the stand 1 .
  • the supporting cell 7 can also be arranged at the stand 1 in a springing manner.
  • First assemblies for receiving, holding and adjusting one or more objectives 10 are arranged at the supporting cell 7 .
  • the supporting cell 7 has guide components, e.g., in the form of a guide plate 11 which cooperates with suitable guide elements 12 of other microscope assemblies, allowing these assemblies to be adjusted in direction of the optical axis 13 of the objective 10 .
  • These first assemblies can also comprise a holder 14 at which is arranged an objective changer device constructed as an objective turret 15 .
  • the first assemblies can also comprise a focusing device for focusing the objective changer device. It can be advantageous for purposes of aligning and adjusting the individual assemblies when the holder 14 is fastened to the supporting cell 7 so as to be adjustable and focusable (indicated by the double-arrow 16 in FIG. 1 ).
  • second assemblies are arranged at the supporting cell 7 which comprise a stage support 17 , a stage guide, and a stage 18 which is arranged on the stage support 17 and is the actual microscope stage on which the object 19 to be examined is positioned.
  • the stage guide comprises the guide plate 11 and the guide elements 12 , is advantageously constructed as a compact and rigid unit, and allows the stage support 17 to be displaced (illustrated by the double-arrow 22 in FIG. 1 ) in direction of the optical axis 13 of the microscope and, therefore, also allows the object 19 arranged on the stage 18 to be displaced relative to the objective 10 .
  • the object 19 to be examined can also be brought into focus in this way.
  • means 20 for arranging a condenser 21 in the illumination beam path of the microscope are located in the lower area of the stand 1 at the stage support 17 .
  • the inverted microscope shown schematically in FIG. 2 has a U-shaped base body or stand 30 .
  • An eyepiece receptacle 31 with eyepiece 5 is provided at one leg 30 . 1 of the stand 30 and a holding arm 32 for the illumination device 3 with light source 2 and for a condenser 33 is provided at its other leg 30 . 2 .
  • the condenser 33 is arranged in a suitable manner in a condenser holder 34 which is displaceable in a guide 35 of the holding arm 32 for the purpose of adjustment.
  • a supporting cell 36 is located between the two legs 30 . 1 and 30 . 2 of the stand 30 and is rigidly but exchangeably fastened by suitable fastening means 9 to projections 37 of the middle part 30 . 3 of the stand 30 in the same way as in the microscope according to FIG. 1 .
  • springing and/or damping intermediate layers can be provided between the contact surfaces of the projections 37 of the stand 30 and the supporting cell 36 .
  • the supporting cell 30 has a guide plate 38 in operative connection with guide elements 39 of a holder 42 supporting an objective turret 40 with objectives 41 .
  • the displacement directions of the holder 42 supporting the objective turret 40 in direction of the optical axis 44 relative to the stage 45 of the inverted microscope, which stage 45 is likewise arranged at the supporting cell 36 , are indicated by the double-arrow 43 .
  • the objective 42 is focused on the object 19 located on the stage 45 by means of this adjustment of the objective 41 relative to the stage 45 .
  • This stage 45 is mounted rigidly or, for purposes of possible stage focusing, so as to be adjustable in direction of the optical axis 44 (indicated by the double-arrow 46 ) in guides 36 . 1 and 36 . 2 of the supporting cell 36 .
  • FIG. 3 shows details of the fastening of the supporting cell 7 to the stand 1 of the upright microscope.
  • Screws 47 are provided as fastening means for fixing the supporting cell 7 so that a detachable connection is achieved between the components in question.
  • Other suitable connecting means by which a detachable connection can be realized can also be provided.
  • a flexible intermediate layer 48 of suitable material is also arranged between the projection 8 of the stand 1 and the contact surface 49 of the supporting cell 7 for vibration damping. Damping intermediate layers (not shown in FIG. 2 ) can also be provided between the projections 37 and the contact surface 30 .
  • the supporting cell 7 ; 36 itself can be optimized with respect to its dimensions and mass and its material may be substituted for additional dynamic and thermal optimization.
  • the supporting cell 7 ; 36 , or parts thereof can be made of or can include a thermally invariant material, ceramic material, sintered material or other suitable material or a combination of such materials. Rigidity and thermal stability are increased through the use of ceramic materials for the supporting cell 7 ; 36 or of steel for the movable guide parts, for example, in particular for certain microscope methods such as time-lapse or optical cutting with a laser scanning microscope (LSM).
  • LSM laser scanning microscope
  • a supporting cell 7 ; 36 constructed in this way consists is that it can be constructed compactly. For example, it can also be used in expanded microscope stands so as to damp vibrations and so as to be free of restriction. In this way, not only can external generation of vibrations be separated, as in modern stand constructions (LSM, wafer inspection microscope), but also internally caused interference resulting, e.g., from accelerated masses in internal drives, can be reduced or eliminated.
  • LSM wafer inspection microscope

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Microscoopes, Condenser (AREA)
US10/540,342 2002-12-20 2003-11-28 Microscope Abandoned US20060139747A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE102616639 2002-12-20
DE10261663A DE10261663A1 (de) 2002-12-20 2002-12-20 Mikroskop
PCT/EP2003/013456 WO2004059362A1 (de) 2002-12-20 2003-11-28 Mikroskop

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20060139747A1 true US20060139747A1 (en) 2006-06-29

Family

ID=32404384

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/540,342 Abandoned US20060139747A1 (en) 2002-12-20 2003-11-28 Microscope

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US20060139747A1 (de)
EP (1) EP1573380A1 (de)
JP (1) JP2006510948A (de)
DE (1) DE10261663A1 (de)
WO (1) WO2004059362A1 (de)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060164723A1 (en) * 2005-01-26 2006-07-27 Leica Microsystems Cms Gmbh Microscope
US20070268573A1 (en) * 2004-10-08 2007-11-22 Nikon Corporation Microscope System
US20130120834A1 (en) * 2011-11-16 2013-05-16 Olympus Corporation Microscope system
US9019600B2 (en) * 2011-11-16 2015-04-28 Olympus Corporation Microscope system

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP4539275B2 (ja) * 2004-10-08 2010-09-08 株式会社ニコン ユニット型顕微鏡装置
DE102005003797A1 (de) 2005-01-26 2006-08-03 Leica Microsystems Cms Gmbh Mikroskop
EP3855235B1 (de) * 2020-01-27 2023-07-19 Optikron GmbH Vorrichtung für die digitalmikroskopie

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4168881A (en) * 1975-10-17 1979-09-25 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated Anti-vibration microscope stand
US4573771A (en) * 1984-07-02 1986-03-04 Warner-Lambert Technologies, Inc. Microscope adjustment apparatus
US4917462A (en) * 1988-06-15 1990-04-17 Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. Near field scanning optical microscopy
US6594075B1 (en) * 1999-11-29 2003-07-15 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Microscope with electronic image sensor
US20030133190A1 (en) * 2000-04-13 2003-07-17 Albrecht Weiss Laser microdissection device

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3523902A1 (de) * 1984-08-01 1986-02-13 Jenoptik Jena Gmbh, Ddr 6900 Jena Mikroskopstativ
JP2966514B2 (ja) * 1990-11-19 1999-10-25 オリンパス光学工業株式会社 焦準機構付き顕微鏡
DE19530136C1 (de) * 1995-08-16 1997-02-13 Leica Mikroskopie & Syst Einrichtung zur Fokusstabilisierung in einem Mikroskop

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4168881A (en) * 1975-10-17 1979-09-25 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated Anti-vibration microscope stand
US4573771A (en) * 1984-07-02 1986-03-04 Warner-Lambert Technologies, Inc. Microscope adjustment apparatus
US4917462A (en) * 1988-06-15 1990-04-17 Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. Near field scanning optical microscopy
US6594075B1 (en) * 1999-11-29 2003-07-15 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Microscope with electronic image sensor
US20030133190A1 (en) * 2000-04-13 2003-07-17 Albrecht Weiss Laser microdissection device

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070268573A1 (en) * 2004-10-08 2007-11-22 Nikon Corporation Microscope System
US7729048B2 (en) * 2004-10-08 2010-06-01 Nikon Corporation Microscope system
US20060164723A1 (en) * 2005-01-26 2006-07-27 Leica Microsystems Cms Gmbh Microscope
US7463414B2 (en) * 2005-01-26 2008-12-09 Leica Microsystems Cms Gmbh Microscope
US20130120834A1 (en) * 2011-11-16 2013-05-16 Olympus Corporation Microscope system
US9019600B2 (en) * 2011-11-16 2015-04-28 Olympus Corporation Microscope system
US9052509B2 (en) * 2011-11-16 2015-06-09 Olympus Corporation Microscope system including detachable stage and detachable transmitted illumination optical system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2004059362A1 (de) 2004-07-15
DE10261663A1 (de) 2004-07-01
JP2006510948A (ja) 2006-03-30
EP1573380A1 (de) 2005-09-14

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AS Assignment

Owner name: CARL ZEISS JENA GMBH, GERMANY

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:DIETZSCH, LEANDER;KLARNER, ULLRICH;TANDLER, HANS;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:017439/0222;SIGNING DATES FROM 20050615 TO 20050706

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION